Seal-lock



(No Model.)

F. GREENE.

SBALLOGK.

No. 431,051. Patented July 1, 1890.

'izaessea UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK GREENE, OF TOCCOA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO U. C. MOPHAIL, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

sEAL -LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,051, dated July 1, 1890.

Application filed October 22 1 8 8 9.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK GREENE, a resident of Toccoa, in the county of I'Iabersham and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same. i

The object of the invention is to simplify and cheapen the construction of seal-locks,

and at the same time add to their efficiency and facility of application; and it consists in the constructions and combinations hereinafter described and pointed out.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a seal-tag with strip and spring-catch attached. Fig. 2 is a side view of a staple. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through pin and hasp, the staple and strip being shown in side elevation. Fig. 4 is aperspective view of the same, and Fig. 5 is a similar view of a hook provided with a locking-pin andseal-tag.

The reference-figure 1 indicates a strip or bolt, preferably of metal, secured in a seal tag or label 2 by being passed through a slot or opening in the same and then bent upon itself to form a hook, as at 16. If desired, it may be soldered or otherwise permanently fastened, as at 3. A spring-catch 4Lis secured to the end of the strip in any suitable manner, or may be formed of the same piece of metal by bending. It is so constructed and arranged that it normally lies in a plane at an angle to the body of the strip, pointing in a direction approximately toward the tag when the lock is applied thereto.

At 5 a staple is indicated, provided with a slot 6, preferably arranged in an inclined direction, as seen in Fig. 3. In the latter figure the staple is shown as passing through a hasp 7, as customary when padlocks are used.

8 indicates a pin provided with a projection 9 and having an interior recess 10 in its head. This recess communicates with the exterior by a slot or passage 11, lying, when in operation, in the same general direction as the passage 6, and it also has another similar opening 12 of larger size at the rear. The rean acute angle.

Serial No, 327,798. (No model.)

cess, having an extension or passage to the exterior of the pin in each direction, forms with said extension a continuous passage through said pin, the rear end of which passage is covered by the hasp when the device is in use. At the upper end of the passage 11 is formed a shoulder, preferably having The interior, upper, and lower surfaces of the main part of the recess 10 are preferably curved from front to rear, substantially as represented in Fig. 3.

In applying the devices described the hasp 7 is passed over the staple and the pin inserted from above, so that its head or projection, such as indicated at 9, rests upon the staple. When thus arranged, the passages 6 and 11 lie in the same general direction, having coincident openings, so that the springstrip can be inserted and pushed up into the recess 10, the spring 4: being compressed by this, so as to lie close to the main body of the strip until its free end passes the exterior angle of the shoulder, whereupon the spring is released and engages the shoulder in a manner to prevent its withdrawal without detaching it from the seal-tag and removing the pin, so as to give access to the rear opening 12. After the pin is removed from the staple the spring-strip can be withdrawn through said opening, and, if desired, can be reused by disconnecting the parts joined at 3, inserting the device in a fresh seal-tag, and inserting the same in the pin and staple, as before described. The above-described device can be varied by mechanical skill without departing from the invention or the mechanical principle thereof. For example, Fig. 5 illustrates a hook 13, adapted to turn about a bolt 17, having a pin 8 fixed thereto and arranged to engage a staple, substantially as above set forth. Substantially the above recess, passage, and shoulder are used in this modification as in the form represented in Fig. 3. The rear recess should of course extend through the body of the hook.

The particular means for attaching the spring-strip to the tag is not of the gist of the main part of the improvement, nor the particular form of the recess and passages. These should be arranged substantially as shownthat is, so as to permit a spring to be properly formed at a trifling cost.

The soldering, as at 3, before described, is not essential, for the part 14 will be within the passage 6. This part 14 may be made of spring metal, and arranged so as to be compressed when drawn into the passage; but

this feature is not a necessary one,-as the strip can be made of such material that its end bent back upon the body and inserted in passage 6 cannot be Withdrawn, even though a part 14: is dispensed with.

The particular form of spring 4, provided it is adapted to be entered and expanded, as stated, is immaterial, and so are the form and exact location of the shoulder. The operation of the spring would not be essentially different were it attached to the opposite side of strip 1 or on one of its edges, the shoulder being suitably modified to co-operate.

It is obvious that the passages 6 and 11 and the opening 12 may be arranged in a straight line, and in such case the strip 1 could be made of rigid material having a spring 4 attached thereto in any convenient manner,

and the part 16 could also be made a separate piece and suitably attached to part 1.

It is characteristic of my improvement that two partssuch as a pin and a stapleengage each other, and are provided each with a passage continuous with a passage in the other, which continuous passage admits a strip having a spring adapted to engage the wall of the passage, which strip can be only removed at the rear when the aforesaid parts are disengaged, and which cannot be removed at the front or in the direction from which it was inserted without breaking the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is The combination, with the pin provided with the continuous passage therethrough having a projection therein, of the staple having a like passage, the hasp, the strip provided with a spring adapted to pass through said passage in the staple and to engage the projection in the passage in the pin, and the seal-tag attached to the strip, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK GREENE.

Witnesses:

G. J. GREENE, E. P. SIMPSON. 

